stories
「stories」是「故事」,也是建築物的「樓層」,例如:
His stories are spiced with humor.(他的小說裡,有很多幽默風趣的片斷。)
Please retell the fairy story in english.(請用英語重述這篇童話故事。)
The Burj Al-Arab Hotel has sixty stories.(杜拜帆船飯店有六十層樓。)
figure out
「figure out」是弄清楚答案,例如:
Well, he has a home office and he goes there pretty often, but I can't figure out what he's doing.(嗯,他有一個經常去的家庭辦公室,但我弄不清楚他在那裡做些什麼。)
I can't figure out what he was hinting at. (我不明白他想暗示什麼。)
She's smart enough to figure out what to do.(她夠聰明,可以想清楚要怎麼做。)
break the silence
「break the silence」是打破沉默,例如:
The snap of a twig broke the silence of dawn.(一根樹枝突然折斷,打破了黎明的寂靜。)
We waited respectfully for her to break the silence. (我們等她先開口打破沉寂,以示尊重。)
除了「silence」,還可以打破「ice」,「break the ice」是打破僵局,例如:
The Tigers broke the ice with a touchdown.(虎隊首先達陣,打破得分僵局。)